


Mirror, Mirror, and Wild Misunderstandings

by mochimogalina



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:47:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24248287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mochimogalina/pseuds/mochimogalina
Summary: While trying to fix the Time Tub, Gyro Gearloose accidentally finds himself in an alternate dimension where the Moonvasion was successful and Lunaris has complete control of Duckburg. While his friends work to find their lost scientist, Gyro teams up with this reality's Gizmoduck in order to right what his counterpart did wrong and get himself home. But how can he fix things when everything he does makes it all worse?
Comments: 29
Kudos: 63





	1. Part One

**Author's Note:**

> Heya, everyone! I had a week off of work, so naturally I wrote a Ducktales fanfic like any other sane person would, lol ^-^ It's finished, but I'll be posting it in two chapters so I can edit the rest of it without rushing. I binged the whole series a few months ago when I was home sick and I fell in love with it... But anyway, I adore Gyro and wanted to give him some character spotlight (I'm also kicking myself because I wrote this before I watched any of the season 3 episodes a couple nights ago and I would have totally incorporated AstroB.O.Y.D. into it if I had seen it earlier) UGH. That episode was glorious. But anyway, please enjoy and feel free to let me know what you think! :)

Careful...

Careful...

Lil' Bulb held the circuit board dutifully still as Gyro Gearloose finished soldering the final capacitor into place, his eyebrows furrowed in solemn concentration. 

"There," he breathed a sigh of relief, "The final component is finished. Now all that's left is--"

"CHAOS!"

"SPACE PIRATES AND MAYHEM!" 

Gyro shrieked with indignation as Mr. McDuck's nephews (and that one girl he could never remember whatever her name was) burst into the lab shouting at the top of their lungs. 

They froze in unison as they noticed Gyro, who looked like he was on the verge of jumping over his desk to personally strangle all four of them. He glanced at their garish primary-colored uniforms and silently counted to three to calm himself down. "Shouldn't you be at school or something?"

"It's 10 pm," one of the boys replied. Gyro couldn't tell the difference between them when they weren't wearing their customary colored shirts.

"And July."

"What school?"

The nephew that Gyro recognized as the red one because of his hat spoke up, "Sorry Dr. Gearloose, we were just coming by to pick up Fenton."

The girl jumped up and down with unending enthusiasm, "And Manny! We're gonna see the midnight premiere of Space Ducks: The Wrath of Swan! The costumes! The space madness! It's gonna be great!" 

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Cabrera came running down the stairs, stuffing his regular clothing into a bag while simultaneously trying to yank a costumed shirt over his head. Manny was following closely behind. 

Gyro blinked, "Intern, you're still here?"

"I-I've been here all day, Dr. Gearloose," he pulled his shirt into place and groaned when he realized it was inside out. Manny dutifully helped the intern fix it.

Cabrera grinned nervously, "I'm sorry I have to leave--"

"Don't be."

"--But I promised I'd go with them to see the movie. You see, it's the fifth in a series--"

"I watched all four this morning!" the girl shrieked with glee.

"Y-yeah, anyway. It's about this ship and its crew of--" the intern blabbered on.

Gyro was on the verge of losing his sanity, so he interrupted, "I don't care. Just go," he waved them off and rubbed his eyes, "Please." _Maybe I can get some work done_. The night was still young, after all.

"Um, you're free to come with us, if you like," one of the Duck nephews spoke up and Gyro peered at them unemotionally. All five faces had fake smiles plastered on them, practically begging him to turn down the obvious social courtesy. And Gyro wasn't one to disappoint.

"Absolutely not. Please go and keep out of my way for a very long time," he shooed them away as they mumbled goodbyes and shot off. 

"Finally. Alone again."

He continued working and didn't even register when the clock hit 3 am. "Why yes, Mr. McDuck, the Time Tub _is_ finished and will definitely not cause any more time storms or adverse side effects. Why no, I definitely won't use it to go and get stuck back in time. Again," Gyro muttered to himself as he adjusted one of the dials on the tub. 

He deliberately ignored Lil' Bulb who sat on the edge of the tub, shaking its head at him woefully.

"Alright, let's test this baby out," Gyro jumped into the tub, enthusiastically setting the dials. "Let's say, five minutes into the future, mm?" 

Lil' Bulb buried itself in Gyro's pocket and folded its arms.

Gyro flicked the final lever and he and the tub disappeared in a flash. When the light dissipated and he could see again, he excitedly jumped to his feet to peer at the clock on the wall. "Only two minutes off! I'd call that progress," he straightened his bowtie in satisfaction and gave himself a mental pat on the back. 

"This is perfect. At this rate I'll be able to--" he gasped as the world warped and shifted and he clung on to the side of the tub for dear life. "Something's gone wrong," he lamented. Of course. Something always went wrong.

He tugged against the shifting air currents and tried to reach for the controls, "Ooh, this is not good. Not good." And right before his hands reached the controls, everything vanished.

* * *

Gyro groaned as he came to on the floor of the lab. A very dark and cold lab at that. 

What had happened and why were there flashing lights?

Wait, was that an alarm going off...?

He squealed in fear as a large hand grabbed him by the back of his neck and hauled him into the air like he was nothing more than paper. He smacked at the hand and kicked his legs in protest, "Let go of me! How dare you! This is my lab!" 

At least he hoped it was his lab.

Where was the Time Tub?

The offending hand loosened its grip and dropped him unceremoniously to the floor, where he scampered backward to get a better look at his attacker. 

"You-you're a Moonlander!" Gyro's jaw dropped. Three Moonlander guards stood before him, the massive one who had held him seconds earlier was cracking his knuckles, sizing the scientist up. 

How was this happening? Had he done something to the timestream?

"Oh no no no no..." he gripped the sides of his head in distress. _What did I do this time?_

"--says this is his lab," one of the guards was speaking into a communication device, "No, we didn't ask." A beat of silence. The guards looked down at him, "What is your name, Earther?"

Gyro got to his feet and straightened himself out, "I am Doctor Gyro Gearloose and you are trespassing in my lab," he silently congratulated himself for keeping his voice steady. The Moonlanders were their friends... there had to be some kind of misunderstanding.

"'Gearloose'?" the big one muttered, "The one who helped win the war?"

Gyro swallowed, "War...?" 

What the actual blazes was happening here? He patted Lil' Bulb and found some comfort in the fact that his little companion was still with him. 

"Lunaris wants to see you," one of the guards pointed to the doorway. It wasn't a suggestion.

"Lunaris. As in General Lunaris?" Gyro felt his heartbeat quicken and he scrutinized the lab, looking for signs of familiarity and finding very little. No Time Tub. An empty work desk. None of Cabrera's things lying around.

"I don't think... I belong here."

He was surrounded by the guards and led up through the bin, which had undergone some major renovations. The place was lined with gold tech and Gyro saw no one but Moonlanders the entire time. It seemed the only place that had remained untouched had been his lab.

They stopped in a giant open room that held a viewing deck, giving them the perfect panoramic view of Duckburg. At least, what was left of it. 

Gyro stifled a squeak as he gazed in horror upon the army of golden Spears lined up around the bin, settled on the frozen ocean. The city was buried under feet of ice and snow and there was next to no sign of life. What had happened to everyone? 

What was going to happen to _him_?

"Dr. Gearloose." a familiarly terrifying voice spoke and he spun around, folding his arms to keep them from shaking. The Moonlanders around him saluted as Lunaris strode into the room, brimming with self-confidence. He stopped in front of Gyro and Gyro shrank back, unused to being towered over. "It really is you; look at that!" Lunaris laughed.

"Uh, buh, eh- yes. Yes, it's me," Gyro gave a crooked smile of confirmation. Lunaris had paid him no attention during the first invasion, so the fact that he even recognized him was unnerving. 

Lunaris leaned in, his face uncomfortably close to Gyro's, "So...?"

"So... what?" Gyro had no idea what was expected of him and felt the piercing gaze of all the Moonlanders in the room weighing on him. At that moment he knew he was dancing at death's door. 

"Where have you been? You have been missing... _for three months_ ," Lunaris enunciated dangerously. 

_I don't know! This isn't my timeline! I have no memories of this place just pleaseletmego--_

Gyro coughed, "Been?" He had always been a terrible liar is what he had _been_. _Keep it as close to the truth as possible, Gearloose_. "I've been... stuck. In time and space. Definitely stuck," he nodded. "If- if you check the security tapes from the lab you'll see me reappear out of thin air. Uh, my memories are a bit jumbled, hah, so you'll have to excuse me," he stammered. _Shut up, you're making it so much worse_. "I was messing around with a quantum time teaser and I- eh --"

"Wow, it is you," an annoyingly familiar voice piped up from behind Lunaris and Gyro strained to see the source.

Cabrera was standing there, donning a shiny black Gizmoduck suit, his eyes hidden and his face unreadable. 

"Intern! What are you doing here?" Gyro gasped and Lunaris frowned at him.

"As good as it is to have my top Earthen scientist back, you'll have to understand if I take certain... precautions," Lunaris placed his hands on Gyro's shoulders, holding him in place. "Fenton will be watching you closely, so stick with him and do what he asks of you. I'm sure we will have nothing to worry about, hm?"

Gyro bit his tongue and nodded wordlessly.

"Very good. Welcome back, Dr. Gearloose," Lunaris grinned and made himself comfortable upon a golden throne overlooking the city. "We are the mighty--"

"We are the moon!" the room echoed. 

Gyro followed the black Gizmoduck suit out of the room, Lunaris' unspoken threats hanging over him like a dark cloud. 

_Blathering Blatherskite_. This was very... very bad.

* * *

Cabrera was unnaturally quiet as he led Gyro through the bin and he made no movement outside of saluting the Moonlanders who saluted him first. It was unnerving. Eventually, the intern led him into a newly-built lab created entirely of moon tech. 

"You work for the Moonlanders," Gyro accused when they were finally alone. 

The black Gizmo-suit spun around and the helmet receded, "I don't know who you think you are fooling, but it will not work on me," Cabrera's pointed finger was only inches from Gyro's beak. "Dr. Gearloose died three months ago, so you are definitely not him, and don't try to lie to me because you're terrible at it. At least that hasn't changed..."

Gyro processed this new information and started muttering to himself, "Okay, okay, I'm dead here. That's good to know. At least I didn't mess up the timestream then... maybe when I was fixing the Tub I jumped a couple of tracks over and ended up in a different dimension. That would explain everything!" he snapped his fingers and felt much more relieved. A logical explanation he could work with.

Cabrera growled and Gyro raised his eyes, almost forgetting the intern was still waiting for him to reply.

"You're from a different timeline," Cabrera folded his arms. "Of course you are."

"If I'm supposed to be dead in this timeline, then why did Lunaris say I was missing? And--" Gyro gasped, realization fully hitting him, "I was working with the Moonlanders??" he gripped his hat dramatically. 

The intern was watching him carefully, sizing him up. He finally sighed and said, "Yes, Dr. Gearloose was a genius scientist and a coward. His inventions were always turning evil and causing more harm than good, and it was no surprise to anyone when he sided with the team that was most likely to get him out alive. A lot of good that did him," he side-eyed Gyro, "But seeing as you're from a different reality, you must be nothing like that, right?" There was a small smirk there and Gyro flinched. 

He continued, "When the tides shifted in favor of the Moonlanders, no thanks to Dr. Gearloose, I worked as a double agent and cozied up to Lunaris. Scrooge thought it was the best solution in the long term," he leaned down toward Gyro, "But if you even think of giving me away I will not hesitate to--"

Gyro stepped backward, "That- that isn't necessary! I have no wish to comply with the Moonlanders in any reality. I'm... relieved though." And he was. This Cabrera was of a tougher breed and had a steelier look in his eye than Gyro's intern, but no matter what reality he was in it was still the same Cabrera.

"However, you didn't answer my question," Gyro pointed out, "Lunaris thought I was missing, but you said I was dead."

"You- he _is_ dead," Cabrera rubbed his head, "He was going to out me to Lunaris. I... couldn't let that happen," he looked guilty. 

Gyro rubbed his hands together fearfully. _He's dead serious. Even if this is still Cabrera I need to tread carefully._

"I told them he went missing while he was testing out unstable time elements, which coincidentally is how you got here. I was worried at first, but it worked out just fine," the intern gave a tired smile.

"I want access to your Doctor's research," Gyro demanded, "I can use it to find a way back to my own timeline."

Cabrera's face darkened and he, to Gyro's dismay, grabbed a fistful of his shirt. _Way to tread carefully._

"That's it? _You_ crash into _my_ dimension, nearly ruin my cover, see earth in ruins because of Lunaris, and you want to use our technology to get yourself out?" Cabrera was furious.

Gyro wasn't having any of it and slapped at the robotic grip in anger, "Yes! This isn't my world! Your problems are not mine to fix!" 

"They are now!" Cabrera dropped Gyro and stood over him, quivering with rage, "You're just like him. A sorry, pathetic, cowardly traitor who wants nothing more than to pamper his own ego!" 

"I'm no traitor," Gyro hissed, ignoring the other stinging comments. "I'd never side with the Moonlanders."

"But you would gladly leave my world in their grip just to save yourself," the robotic hero leaned over, "But you can't. We don't have the time machine anymore. It was destroyed."

_Destroyed?_

"Lunaris had it destroyed when he first took the bin. He was afraid we'd use it to go back and stop his attack before it began... Dr. Gearloose was happy to oblige," he said bitterly. He blinked as a sudden realization seemed to hit him, "But you can recreate it..." he turned to Gyro.

"Oh, now you want me to go?" Gyro replied irritably.

"If you recreate the Time Tub here, then we can use it to go back and stop Lunaris! Then you'd be free to use it to return home whenever you wish," Cabrera seemed to get excited and Gyro held out a hand and waved it at him.

"Ba ba bah - Hold on. I am absolutely not using a time machine to stop an alien invasion. You can do what you wish, but if I recreate it then I want to use the tech to get home first," Gyro insisted. 

"As much as you like to tell me so, I am not an idiot," Cabrera folded his arms, "You'll take the Time Tub and disappear along with it. We need to use it first to stop Lunaris and then you can take it."

"First of all, you _are_ an idiot. Second, the Tub didn't come with me here, which is why I can't use it to escape. Therefore, it'll stay behind when I use it again. You understand, intern?"

"That's assuming it works the way it's supposed to," Cabrera's teeth were clenched, "And if you're anything like our Dr. Gearloose was, then it _won't_." 

Lil' Bulb tugged at Gyro's pocket as a warning and he shut his mouth before he said anything that he'd very much regret. But he bristled nonetheless. How dare he. Different timeline or not, Cabrera was still the intern. 

But he knew he'd have no choice but to follow along with Cabrera's plan, as much as he hated it. "Fine," he relented, "I'll give you a list of materials I need. You retrieve them and leave me in peace and this whole thing will be over soon enough. Happy now?"

"Good, and you make sure to do everything I tell you so that the Moonlanders don't become suspicious and have us both executed," Cabrera made a sliding motion across his throat.

Gyro's chest constricted in fear, "Executed? Is that what happened to the others?" 

"Some," the intern scowled, "Lunaris wanted to shove his victory down the throats of his enemies, so a lot of them are locked up such as Mr. McDuck, but there were a few losses." He shrugged, "None of that will matter if we can undo it all though. I just don't really... want to talk about it."

Gyro swallowed. _Fine by me._

* * *

**Home Dimension:**

Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera was really starting to regret agreeing to see a midnight movie showing as he made his way down to the lab at seven in the morning. He sipped at his black coffee and vaguely realized that he had forgotten to add any cream and sugar. Ah well.

When he entered the lab the first thing he noticed was that the lights were off, which was odd. Dr. Gearloose was almost always there before him. In fact, it wouldn't have surprised Fenton in the slightest if his boss had slept there the previous night, as intent as he was on fixing the Time Tub.

"Dr. Gearloose? Manny?" he waved his arms around to turn on the automatic lights. There was no reply.

He noted the Time Tub in the middle of the lab and wondered why it had been left out. Dr. Gearloose would never... 

A whirring sound came from behind him and something cold touched the back of his neck, "Don't move," a female voice threatened him.

Fenton dropped the coffee and raised his hands, "Ack! Don't- don't shoot. What do you want? Where's Dr. Gearloose?" 

The intruder yanked Fenton's duffel bag off his shoulder and tossed it aside, jumping in front of him and holding out a blaster. He gasped, "Wait, you? What are you doing here?" It was the Moonlander that had befriended Della Duck. He often saw them hanging out together, but kept forgetting her name. 

She frowned, "You?" she glanced at the duffel bag. "What are _you_ doing down here? We closed this place off ages ago..." her eyes narrowed. 

Fenton's nerves tingled. Something was off about her.

"I think... maybe we should sit down and talk calmly?" he suggested, "Have you... have you seen Dr. Gearloose?" 

"That fool has been missing for months. What is going on here?" she snapped, aiming her blaster at Fenton's head. 

"What do you mean 'missing'?"

She growled, "I don't have time for this!" she pushed past him and ran out the exit.

"Blathering Blatherskite!" Fenton called the Gizmoduck suit to him and followed the confused alien outside. He watched as she started threatening and pushing people out of her way outside the bin and he dialed Della.

She answered, _"This better be good, Fenton. It's like seven in the morning!"_

Fenton had a sneaking suspicion that Della had been up since seeing the movie only hours prior, otherwise there's no way she would have answered. "No time! Della, do you know where your friend is? The Moonlander?" he asked as he struggled to keep up with the rampaging woman.

 _"Penny? Why do you ask?"_ she seemed exasperated.

"Because I'm following her right now! She was in the lab this morning and Dr. Gearloose wasn't there and now she's outside shooting at people and I can't seem to figure out what's wrong and--"

_"Hold on, she's what??"_

"She's lost her marbles!" Fenton shouted.

 _"Let me try to get ahold of her. I'll be right there!"_ and Della hung up.

Fenton gasped as he realized that he had lost track of the alien. "Did anyone see where she went?" A guy was shaking his fist outside his car that sported a fresh burn mark, but other than that, no one was being very helpful.

He made his way into an alley where he suspected she had fled and stopped to listen. "Blathering Blatherskite, I should've been paying more atten--" he squawked in surprise as he was jumped from above and the alien knocked his helmet off. 

She pointed the blaster at his head, "Don't move! I mean it, Earther. What happened here? We took over the earth! What did you do?" she was practically hysterical and Fenton was terrified she would shoot him without hesitation if he opened his mouth. 

A shot came from behind them and knocked the blaster out of her hand and she jumped up in shock, "What-?"

Fenton craned his head backward to see Della and Penny ( _that's right, Penumbra_ ) at the entrance of the alley, Penny holding up her blaster. "Alright you phony, put your hands up!" the alien demanded. 

The other Penumbra stood up in compliance, watching her counterpart carefully. "What kind of ridiculous scheme is this?"

"Two Pennys!" Della squealed, "I'm gonna have two twin besties!" Della ruffled Penny's hair and the alien grunted. 

"No, you're definitely not."

Fenton got up and donned his helmet before putting cuffs on the other Penumbra. "I think it's time we had a nice, long chat. Don't you think?" He yawned, "But first, let me grab another coffee."

* * *

**Alternate Dimension:**

Gyro had spent nearly four days recreating a rudimentary version of the Time Tub (as long as it worked he didn't quite care what it looked like) and had only slept maybe a total of nine hours. He was exhausted, but the thought of staying in this wretched timeline for even another hour drove him to keep working. 

Cabrera did his part in retrieving materials needed and kept Lunaris and the Moonlanders out of Gyro's hair. "They think you're working on upgraded security systems for the confinement camps," the intern had told him. 

_Confinement camps._ He shuddered to think...

Gyro had whipped up a pseudo-security bot system in under two hours, just in case Lunaris had any questions. One could never be too careful, after all.

Cabrera came careening into the lab and slammed straight into a desk, knocking over a computer terminal and causing papers to go flying in every dimension. Gyro dropped a magnetic stabilizer in shock and it landed on his foot, evoking a yelp from the scientist. Some things never changed.

"Lunaris is on his way down!" the intern gasped, jumping out of his black suit for the first time to help pick up the mess. 

Gyro leaned forward and eyed the empty suit out of curiosity and Cabrera snapped his fingers at the scientist, "Not now! Get your fake security system ready, stat!"

Gyro bristled at the intern's tone but knew he was right, so he shut his mouth and got to work. He covered the Time Tub and shoved it into a lockup, yanking the empty bot shells out instead. Lunaris burst into the room with a grin, "Good evening, my Earthen--" he stopped, taking in the sight of the two scientists, one shoving a stack of papers into a desk drawer and the other balancing three heavy bots above his head. 

Cabrera squeaked and dove into the Gizmo-suit, "I'm sorry, General, we were just trying to clean up before you got here. It's been a mess as you can see--" he stammered. Gyro was embarrassed that he had even been slightly afraid of this Cabrera. Maybe it was the black suit messing with him.

Gyro dropped one of the bots and cursed his luck when it rang hollow on the golden floor below. "You're here to see the updated security system, I assume?" the scientist lowered the other two bots carefully onto his desk. "I'll have to warn you, it's still in the testing stages and we've had--"

"No, no," Lunaris waved for Gyro to be silent, "I'm here for a related, but slightly different reason. Dr. Gearloose, I need you to accompany me to the Alpha Confinement Camp so that you can examine the security details around our high-priority prisoners. Maybe it'll jog your memories a bit and help with the..." he glanced at the fake bots on the desk with thinly veiled disdain, "... project."

Gyro gulped and raised a finger, "That- that's not quite necessary. I'm doing just fine with the blueprints you've given me and it'll do nothing but slow down the process-" He cursed himself for sounding so nervous. 

"You'll do as I tell you, Gearloose," Lunaris' tone was a warning one and shut Gyro up immediately.

"Yes, Sir."

He gave Cabrera a pleading look as he followed the Moonlander General out of the lab, but the intern gave no indication of following him. 

_Alright, you're on your own now. You can do this. You're a brilliant scientist and you can do anything._

Lil' Bulb peeped out of Gyro's pocket and patted him affectionately. It made him feel immensely better and he gave the small droid a tight smile. Yep, you can do this.

"I've had Fenton accompany me to see my top prisoner on occasion, but this is the first I've taken his top ex-inventor along," Lunaris was explaining to him on the ride over. 

_So this is more about rubbing my- er, their Gyro's betrayal into their faces then,_ Gyro rolled his eyes. _Wonderful_.

Lunaris led the scientist through the confinement camp, which was more of a dark, tech-laden jailhouse than anything. Gyro could see puffs of white as he breathed and he shivered, "You Moonlanders don't believe in central heating, do you?"

"The heat emanating from the force shields is enough to keep the prisoners alive," Lunaris' tone was as cold as the air. 

They stopped in a large, open chamber, and Gyro shrank back as Lunaris stepped forward toward a force shield bubble surrounding a single prisoner. 

"Good evening, Scrooge McDuck. How was your week? Eventful, I hope?" Lunaris laughed at his own banter. 

Gyro watched this reality's Scrooge as he sat up and glared at Lunaris without a word. He wore a blue coat rather than his traditional red one and his eyes looked older. There was an expression on his face that Gyro hadn't seen since Della had disappeared eleven years earlier. It was defeat. 

Lunaris laughed, "Oh, where are my manners? I thought that since you wouldn't play with me anymore you'd be up to a game with one of your old acquaintances instead," Lunaris nudged Gyro forward to face the imprisoned duck. 

"A- a game?" Gyro squeaked. 

Lunaris snapped his fingers and two holographic chess boards appeared, one inside the force shield, and one in front of Gyro. Gyro cringed; Scrooge McDuck was one of the only people in the world who could beat him at chess. He looked up at Scrooge, who was staring at the chessboard blankly. _Well, maybe the old codger could use a win for once._

"I'll leave you two to it, then," Lunaris waved and exited the room, leaving no one behind but the two players. 

Gyro's eyes darted around and he couldn't make out any sort of security system other than the force shield that separated him from Mr. McDuck. This was _definitely_ a trap. Lunaris suspected him of something, so he would have to tread very carefully. 

The old man sat with his arms folded in front of the chessboard, glaring daggers at Gyro, and the scientist fidgeted uncomfortably. 

"What in Dismal Downs are you doing here?" the old duck demanded, his voice gravelly with disuse.

"It wasn't exactly my idea," Gyro insisted.

"Since you were the only one who hadn't come to visit me I had hoped that you were dead," Scrooge folded his arms.

Gyro had to take a deep breath. _He isn't the Mr. McDuck you know... and to be fair if this reality's Gyro was such a bad guy, then he has a point._

"I am..." Gyro started and stopped himself. _Sorry_. He couldn't say that because General Lunaris was absolutely listening in on their conversation. He was waiting for Gyro to slip up, so Gyro would just have to play the part of the bad guy. 

How does one be a bad guy?

 _Just be yourself_ , a small voice piped up in his head.

"If you were really 'smarter than the smarties' then you would have joined me when I sided with the Moonlanders," Gyro tried a bit of smack talk. He hoped that it would be enough to satisfy Lunaris because he wasn't sure he could keep it up for very long. 

"You mean when you stabbed me in the back in the middle of our operation? When you helped capture and execute my niece and nephew, you thought that I should have joined you?" Scrooge was enraged and Gyro took a step back.

"You cannae think-" Scrooge stood straight up in front of the force field, "That I ever trusted you in _any_ situation, let alone during an alien invasion!" 

Gyro momentarily forgot where he was and his heart dropped like a stone. "You've never trusted me?"

"Now Fenton! He was a good lad and I was completely blindsided by his betrayal, but you--" he pointed, "You're right. If I was really 'smarter than the smarties', then I should have been paying more attention to you. Always ruining things, wasting my time and money, creating blasted evil robots for crying out loud! I've never trusted you and should have fired you years ago!"

Each word was like a stab in the chest, and Gyro was shocked by how hard it affected him. _This isn't your boss... you're in a different reality. It's fine. He isn't really talking about you._

He looked up into Scrooge's eyes and Gyro knew he could see right through him. If things had gone a little differently in his own timeline, could he have betrayed Scrooge as well? He had never questioned it before, but... 

_Always ruining things. Creating evil robots._

Cabrera had told him that he was just like their Gyro. Several times.

Gyro took another step back, "I... I need to go." _Before I ruin this as well._

"Then go. I never want to see your backstabbing face here ever again, you hear? Get out!" Scrooge yelled after him as Gyro turned and ran. Thankfully, the exit let him out and he half-collapsed against the door while he tried to pull himself together.

"That was a quick game. I take it you beat him easily," Lunaris leaned over him. 

"He wasn't in the mood for chess," Gyro said, "What was this about?"

"Relax, Dr. Gearloose, I won't put you through that again. But I had to be sure..." he smirked. "General Penumbra went missing the morning you returned, so naturally I suspected you. But Fenton has vouched for you several times and you interacted with Scrooge the way I thought you should, so... no harm done, I suppose."

_He's too trusting. I don't believe him._

"I know that that was a meeting you had wanted to avoid, so I was surprised when you agreed to come with me today," Lunaris laid a hand on Gyro's shoulder in what was supposed to be a comforting manner, but all it did was made the scientist feel worse. "Even if Scrooge McDuck and his friends have never had any faith in you, I promise that you will always have the implicit trust of myself and the rest of the Moonlanders. The Planet Moon will always be deeply indebted to you, Dr. Gearloose, and that should give you more pride than anything."

Gyro shuddered, _The moon is not a planet._

"Yes... Sir."

* * *

**Home Dimension:**

"I want to know where my top inventor is at and I want to know right now, Mr. Cabrera!" Scrooge McDuck smacked his cane against the doorway to the lab and Fenton jumped at the suddenness of the entrance.

"I- I'm sorry, Mr. McDuck, I've been analyzing the video and decoding the information stored in the Time Tub, but it's a long process and I--" Fenton was distressed and Huey had to intervene. 

"It's gonna be a bit longer, Uncle Scrooge. There isn't that much info for us to work with here," he tapped at the computer terminal he was using and Manny clacked his hooves in agreement.

"It's already been four days!"

"Don't get me started," the other dimension's Penumbra spoke up bitterly. She was cuffed to a chair while Louie, Dewey, Webby, Della, and Launchpad played a board game while watching over her. 

"Are you all playing Scroogeopoly?" Scrooge's mouth was agape. Gyro would have a fit if he saw how many people were occupying his lab space.

"This game is way less boring when you're not playing," Louie spoke up.

"Yeah, you're only saying that because you keep winning," Dewey pouted. 

"What's that? I can't hear you over the sound of my fat stack of loot," Louie threw a handful of fake cash in the air and it rained over all the players.

Donald and Penumbra (their Penumbra, Scrooge had to remind himself) pushed past him with a drink tray full of coffee and juices. 

"The drinks have arrived!" Donald rasped and everyone converged on him.

Scrooge walked over to Fenton, who was doing a splendid job of ignoring everyone, "Be honest with me, lad. Can we get Gyro out of that place?" He had heard from that dimension's Penumbra what it was like over there, and he didn't like it one bit. He just had to hope that the scientist was doing his best over there.

Fenton rubbed his head, "We need something to connect to on the other side, and that means that Dr. Gearloose is going to need to try to reach us as well. I have the Time Tub set up to the relative coordinates, but we have yet to have any luck making a connection. It's not... looking good," he seemed frustrated, and Scrooge felt for the lad.

"Can we use her for anything?" Scrooge pointed to the restrained alien. 

"Unfortunately, no. She's given us excellent detailed information on why life is better in her timeline than ours, but other than that she's useless to us."

"Wonderful."

"So, what do you think, Penny 2.0?" Della was making the alien drink from a can of Pep with a straw. "Life here is pretty great, right? We've got... Pep. And board games! And family fun times." 

"It's everything I've always dreamed of," Penumbra's voice was dripping with sarcasm and she looked up at her doppelganger. "You're telling me you put up with these people? You actually fell for their 'family' act?"

Penumbra shrugged, "It grew on me. Besides, we've gone over this a dozen times already: The General was insane and our people are so much happier mingling with the Earthers. Why can't you see that?"

"Because it's fake!"

The talk downgraded to shouting at that point, and Scrooge groaned, "Is this a common thing with them?" 

"For the past four days," Fenton sighed. 

"For crying out-- be quiet!" he slammed a fist on the desk and everyone silenced, "You cannae think that arguing is going to help Gyro or our moon friend here get home, so everyone make yourself useful and behave! The quicker we figure this out the quicker she-" he pointed to the second Penumbra, "-can leave. Nod if you understand."

Everyone nodded.

"Good. Now scoot over so I can play too," Scrooge nudged Launchpad over and made himself comfy. 

"And there goes our fun," Louie lamented.

* * *

**Alternate Dimension:**

Hours later, Gyro was still chastising himself for letting Scrooge's words affect him the way they did. 

_You're being irrational._

Lil' Bulb seemed to sense that something was wrong as well, as he seemed more jittery than usual. "Maybe you need a replacement bulb," Gyro suggested and patted the invention on the head.

Cabrera had noticed the scientist's change in demeanor and had questioned him, but Gyro hadn't been entirely forthcoming. It wasn't any of Cabrera's business about what had transpired at the camp.

Gyro was almost finished with the Time Tub anyway, and once it was complete he fully planned to use it to get home and out of this frozen wasteland. He was still torn on whether or not to let Cabrera use it first... he had agreed to the demand, sure. But Gyro desperately wanted to leave. Surely it would work the way it was supposed to.

Everything would be fine.

After a couple of hours more, Gyro sat back, examining his handiwork. The Time Tub was complete (it wasn't as pretty as the original, but it would do), and Cabrera was nowhere to be seen. In fact, Gyro hadn't seen the intern since he had first returned to the lab.

He could escape right then and there if he wanted to, and Cabrera wasn't even around to tell him no. 

He looked at the time machine longingly.

He did want to, but... If the Time Tub did somehow travel with him, the earth in this dimension could very well be doomed. 

"Well, it's not my problem," he spoke aloud, trying to convince himself. "They did this to themselves. Why should I care if this world is... is..." he drifted off. Maybe he should wait.

It was simply the right thing to do and he was going to prove them all wrong. "See? I am trustworthy. I'm completely trustworthy."

He was going to have to find Cabrera first.

Gyro pulled the all-important time flux dial off the invention and pocketed it because you could never be too careful. There was no way he was going to leave a fully functioning time machine alone in the lab for just anyone to get ahold of. 

He made his way out of the lab and started upward through the bin, looking for the missing intern. 

"Earther, what are you looking for?" a security guard asked him, her hand resting on the blaster at her hip.

Gyro smiled disarmingly, "I'm just looking for Cab- Gizmoduck. I need help on the project I'm working on and I haven't seen him all day."

"Ah, I believe he is currently speaking with General Lunaris," the security guard replied. 

_Wonderful_. "Great, thank you," he nodded and started off.

"We are the mighty!" 

"We are, ah, the moon," he stumbled. _I have to get out of here._

Gyro was surprised to find that the doors to Lunaris' chamber were left unguarded and cracked open. He listened carefully to make sure that Cabrera was in there before he went barging in unannounced. Sure enough...

"--were you thinking?" Cabrera's voice echoed.

"Watch yourself, _Gizmo_ duck. I was thinking in the long-term, for the good of us all," Lunaris snapped. They were in a heated conversation and Gyro took a step back, ready to head back to the lab and wait for Cabrera there.

"He's almost finished with the time machine, and you put that in jeopardy!" Cabrera shouted.

Gyro grew cold. Time machine?

"Absolutely not! I'd say it's working out better than expected. You should have seen the look on his face when Scrooge belittled him. He's desperate for someone to trust him and the only one he trusts here is you," Lunaris sounded smug. "You know as well as I do that there was a good chance that he would take off with the time machine as soon as it was finished, but now I can guarantee that he won't. His ego won't allow it."

Gyro clamped his beak shut with his hands and willed himself to move. _Go, get out of here._ But he found himself frozen in place. There was no way Cabrera had sold him out... that was ridiculous. The stupid intern was a hero! 

There had to be some kind of mistake. 

"And what happens then? We kill him?"

"I certainly hope not. The man is brilliant and it was such a shame when we lost him. But the past is in the past... oh wait, it's not," Lunaris laughed again. "After all, history can be rewritten."

_They're going to use it to rewrite earth's history and Lunaris wants me to join them._

Gyro had heard quite enough. He turned on his heel to run back to the lab when he found himself face to face with a Moonlander guard. "What are you doing?" the guard asked. Gyro backed into the door and it swung open, evoking shocked gasps from the two co-conspirators inside. 

"Buh- I- I was just trying to find Cabrera! And, uh, there you are!" he was quivering in fear and tried to push Lil' Bulb, who was shaking a fist at the two, back into his pocket. "I- ah-"

"He heard everything," Lunaris spoke. "I take it the time machine is finished?"

"No! No, there's no time machine! It's, ah, not going to work out. _Gah-_ " he stepped backward and tripped, the dial rolling out of his pocket. He grabbed it and shoved it behind his back.

"It is finished, otherwise he wouldn't have that dial," Cabrera said. 

Gyro made the split-second decision to make a run for it and shoved the security guard aside, bolting down the Hall and down the steps as fast as his skinny legs could carry him. 

_As if I stand a chance against the Gizmo-suit._

"After him! Get that dial!" 

He heard the unmistakable sound of the Gizmo-suit flying after him and he let out a shriek of terror. Blaster shots came raining down the stairs and Gyro jumped a flight of stairs to avoid them. 

"Stop shooting, you maniacs!" Cabrera's voice echoed around the corner. "We need that dial intact!"

The dial intact. Not him. 

Gyro ran into an open hallway full of windows, a remnant from the original money bin. He desperately looked around, but couldn't find anything to smash any of them. "Lil' Bulb, can you?" he gestured at a window and Lil' Bulb jumped onto the sill, breaking the lock so that the scientist could pull it open.

He stuck his head out and looked up, then down, and noted with irritation he was still closer to the roof than the ground, so he decided it would be safer to travel up first. 

He heard a crash as Cabrera made his way into the hallway and Gyro launched himself at the nearest balcony above his head. No time to think - just go! His hands nearly slipped on the icy rail and he cursed himself. _Probably should have done at least a little thinking. This is so stupid!_

He heard a window break below him and stifled a scream. Gizmoduck was hovering in front of him, blaster ready and aimed right at Gyro's head. Gyro grabbed the dial and held it out over the side of the balcony, "I'll drop it! Don't think I won't!" he threatened.

Cabrera's arm wavered and blaster shots came from below, ricocheting off the balcony. Gyro screamed in response and nearly dropped the dial, so Cabrera came swooping in and grabbed the scientist by the arm, hauling him away.

"What- what are you doing?" Gyro freaked out as they flew high above the city. 

"Giving us some privacy!" the intern yelled back. He dropped Gyro on the top of a skyscraper and dusted the snow off his suit. "Finally, alone. I'm sorry about those trigger-happy idiots..." he retracted the visor and smiled disarmingly at Gyro.

Gyro stepped backward and shivered violently, either out of cold or fear. Probably both. He grasped the dial tightly in his hands and Lil' Bulb jumped onto his shoulder protectively.

"Look, I don't want to hurt you, Dr. Gearloose. Really. I had to tell Lunaris about the time machine... he was suspicious. But I still intend to use it for the good of the earth. I promise," he smiled. "Don't you trust me?"

Gyro really wanted to, but... there was something off about Cabrera's eyes. They were hard. They had the same hateful look that Scrooge had given him earlier.

He held the dial out over the city streets and tried not to look down, "It'll be destroyed if I drop it. And I promise you that I will not work on a time machine for you again, no matter what you do to me," he swallowed, mustering his resolve. He was scared, honestly, but he couldn't allow them to change the history of earth, even if it wasn't his own.

How could he live with himself if he allowed that?

Suddenly, Lil' Bulb's head glowed bright blue and the invention climbed up Gyro's arm and wrapped itself around the time dial, "What are you doing?" Gyro demanded. 

The invention clasped the dial and jumped away from Gyro, climbing up onto the highest spire it could find. Cabrera took off after it and, right before his outstretched hand reached the invention, Lil' Bulb and the time dial vanished.

Cabrera turned on Gyro, "Where did it go?"

Gyro was just as confounded as the intern, "I- I have no idea, I swear!" 

Cabrera backhanded Gyro and sent the scientist flying into a spire. He gasped as the wind got knocked out of him and struggled to move out of the way as the intern came at him again. 

"Argh, you just had to ruin everything, didn't you? Do you know what I hate about you? You think you're better than me!" Cabrera grabbed Gyro by the throat and slammed him to the ground. " _He_ thought he was better than me, and you're exactly the same! 'Intern' this - 'Intern' that! I didn't kill him because he was going to expose me to Lunaris--" he yanked Gyro up by the wrist and Gyro cried out as something snapped under the robotic grip.

"-I killed him because he was a coward and I _hated_ him," Cabrera spat and dropped Gyro, who struggled for breath and cradled his arm. "Honestly, I'm doing your world a favor right now, considering you aren't doing mine any." He shoved the scientist again, knocking off his glasses, and Gyro doubled over in pain.

Gyro watched as a blurry outstretched hand reached toward him, the unmistakable sound of a blaster warming up, and he backed up against the spire, his body aching in protest.

_This is it. You're going to die in an entirely different timeline than your own and no one will ever know._

Another, sadder thought. _No one will miss you when you're gone._

"Goodbye, Dr. Gearloose. No one's going to miss you."

He shut his eyes.

And the blaster went off.

* * *

_Author's Note: BAM! CLIFFHANGER because I was feeling particularly mean tonight. (Honestly, I was just trying to find a good spot to split the fic and landed here. Sorry guys.) I'll get the next part edited and posted ASAP. ^-^ Feedback always welcome!_


	2. Part Two

The blaster went off

And it... missed?

Gyro opened his eyes and his vision was blocked by white. Oh no, he was dead after all. 

"Dr. Gearloose?"

He covered his head with his good arm to block the sights and sounds before him. He hadn't believed in an afterlife before and he certainly didn't want to believe in one now.

"Dr. Gearloose, are you alright?" the voice sounded desperate.

A hand grabbed his shoulder and he flinched, but it was... comforting? He looked up and squinted, then the blurry figure gently returned Gyro's lost glasses.

"Cabrera?" Gyro asked, his voice unsure.

"Blathering Blatherskite," Cabrera laughed nervously, "That was a close call."

Gyro peered behind the white Gizmo-suit and saw the black one struggling to detangle itself from a spire. 

"He'll be free in a minute. I gotta get you to the Sunchaser," he helped Gyro stand and the scientist wobbled, exhausted. "Are you okay?" Cabrera was worried.

Gyro couldn't look the intern in the eyes, "I'm fine, fine. Just tired. Others are here?" he looked around, struggling to see anything through the snowy haze. 

"You'll never believe it, Dr. Gearloose! There we were, trying to locate you via the Time Tub for days, and then out of nowhere, Lil' Bulb activated a connection to the other side and--" a blaster shot interrupted him and hit the spire, missing the two scientists by inches. He shoved Gyro protectively behind him, "Sorry, sorry, not the time!"

"Look at that, another me!" the other Cabrera exclaimed, "I'm not sure how I feel about the white suit though. Don't know if it suits me." He sniggered at his own terrible pun.

"The black makes you look like a jerk," Fenton growled.

"Ouch, I'm genuinely hurt. I might have to go and change my whole color scheme now," he gestured to Fenton, "Move out of the way, I have unfinished business with Dr. Gearloose."

Fenton put an arm out, shielding Gyro from the other Cabrera's view, "Consider it finished."

"You're kidding me, right? Don't tell me you've never thought about throwing him off a building before. He's been a thorn in your side for ages now, holding you back! In fact, I'll be the nice guy here and let you finish the job," he threw his arms out magnanimously.

Fenton said nothing.

"He's a coward," Cabrera continued, "and a traitor. He'll turn on you people the same way my Dr. Gearloose did. Trust me, they're exactly the same."

Gyro couldn't keep the distress from showing on his face. _No..._

"What are you blathering on about?" Fenton's voice was low, serious. "Dr. Gearloose is one of the most amazing people I know. His people skills leave a little to be desired, sure, but I've seen him in action. He always stands up to the plate when he's needed and he's never let us down before!" Fenton stood up straight and looked his counterpart in the eye, "How dare you imply otherwise. That would be like saying that you and I are the same-"

"-And I am nothing like you!" he launched himself at the black Gizmo-suit and knocked him over the edge. Seconds later the black suit came back and the two went at it, blasting at each other while one shot to kill and the other to restrain.

Gyro was too shocked to even move out of harm's way. His intern had defended him and had sounded completely sincere about it. Could it be true?

_Not the time. Make yourself useful and get off the roof._

The scientist snapped out of his stupor and started looking for an exit. If he got away then Fenton could fight his counterpart without having to look after Gyro's safety. He was imperiling both of them by staying up there. 

Get off the roof. Find the Sunchaser.

He took note of a balcony not too far below him and started to make his way down to it, but stopped when the sound of tearing metal caught his attention. One of the spires had gotten tangled up in one of the Gizmo-suit's restraining cables and was being torn down by the two fighting ducks. 

It crashed down and pinned the white suit, who struggled to get out from under it.

Gyro saw the danger as the other Cabrera took advantage of his enemy's situation and smashed Fenton's visor, aiming the blaster at his exposed face.

Fenton shouted at his enemy, "Why are you doing this? Why side with the Moonlanders? You're supposed to be a hero!"

The black-suited Cabrera stopped for a moment, "I only took the suit to get back at Gearloose and to get the attention I so rightly deserved! You know what we're going to do when we rewrite our history? I'm going to make sure that everyone knows my name! But _you_... do you really think-" he dug the end of the blaster into Fenton's forehead, "-you're cut out to be a hero?"

"Cabrera!" Gyro tackled the black-suited duck and the blasts went errant. He clung to the blaster arm to keep it from locking onto his trapped intern.

"Get off!" Cabrera roared in frustration and slammed Gyro into the wall while shooting the blaster, but the scientist stubbornly held on.

Fenton pulled himself free and launched at the black suit, "Dr. Gearloose, let go!" 

The scientist complied and stumbled backward as Fenton slapped a magnetic, pulsing device onto the chest of the black suit. "I didn't want to have to use this because it's still unstable and maybe it's not all that heroic, but-" 

The device went off and electricity surged throughout the suit, deactivating it and knocking its user out cold in seconds. 

"I'm very sorry about that, but we must be going," Fenton apologized and turned to Gyro, who was struggling to stand upright, clasping a spire for support. 

"Dr. Gearloose?"

Gyro took a shaky breath as he stared blankly at the blaster burn across his side. He had been too numb to notice it, but he was starting to feel the pain creeping up on him. He glanced at Cabrera's worried face and wanted to assure the intern that he was fine, "It's not as bad as it looks-" He took a step away from the spire and immediately collapsed to his knees, hugging his side as the pain washed over him. _Nice assurance._

Cabrera was at his side in an instant and Gyro gasped as the intern steadied him and mumbled a stream of apologies. "I'm okay, just- just give me a moment," Gyro insisted. 

"I was supposed to save you, not get you shot!" Fenton was distressed.

"Relax, I said--," Gyro whimpered as the pain stabbed at him and he fell sideways, shaking uncontrollably. He was cold and everything hurt. 

Cabrera laid a hand over the scientist's shoulder protectively, "We gotta get you home. I'm sorry, but I'm gonna have to carry you."

" _Guh-_ no," Gyro grimaced, feebly pushing Cabrera's arms away with his good arm, but Cabrera ignored him and picked the scientist up as gently as the robotic armor allowed, shielding him from the freezing elements. 

Fenton spoke into his comm, "Sunchaser, this is Gizmoduck. I have Dr. Gearloose, where are you guys?" he looked around desperately. "Guys?"

* * *

"I heard Gizmoduck's voice over that thing!" Donald screeched and pointed at the console as the Sunchaser made another sharp turn. "Hello, is anyone listening to me?"

"We're a bit busy at the moment, Donald!" Scrooge yelled over the howling wind and snow pouring through the open cargo hold. 

Some of the Moonlanders had taken notice of the giant red ship making rounds around the flashing portal in the sky, and it was the Sunchaser's job to make sure nobody got through. 

Della smacked the communicator button as she worked the controls, "It's the Cloudslayer, Fenton! _Cloud. Slayer_."

 _"I don't really care right now,"_ Fenton snapped over the radio, _"I need you to come to my location ASAP."_

"I'm afraid that's a no go. You're gonna have to come to us! The Moonlanders are trying to break through the portal," Della replied. 

A blaster shot echoed in the plane and Donald ran to put out a sudden fire. 

Penumbra turned on her counterpart, "Is this better?" she gestured to the frozen wasteland, "Is this what you really want to return to?"

Her counterpart opened her mouth to make a retort but was interrupted when the ship tilted sideways, rammed by a Moonlander ship.

 _"Attention! Attention, Moonlanders and Earthers alike,"_ a familiar voice rang out across the white void, _"Stand down."_ A holographic image of General Lunaris appeared in the middle of the plane and the Ducks watched in horror as he held a blaster to the back of Fenton's head, no longer in his Gizmo-suit. In his other hand, he held onto the shirt collar of a slumped over Gyro.

 _"I have two of your people held prisoner, and it seems that you have one of mine,"_ the General grinned. He looked at each of his prisoners, _"Which one shall I toss? Which one shall I return? Maybe I'll just keep them both."_

"You filthy--" Scrooge waved his cane threateningly at the hologram, "You won't get your Moonlander back until we have those two safely on my plane!" 

_"Keep the General,"_ Lunaris said, _"I'm simply thrilled at the prospect of breaking Scrooge McDuck all over again."_ The General nudged Fenton forward, his body angled dangerously over the top of the skyscraper. _"I enjoyed doing it the first time."_

Penumbra made a strangled noise of rage, "Aim your plane at him!" she shouted at Della, "Just go for it!"

"Absolutely not. We can't leave the portal unprotected!" Scrooge intervened.

 _"Don't worry, Mr. McDee, we're prepared to keep intruders out!"_ Launchpad announced over the comm. He was protecting the other side along with the kids. 

_"Yeah, Uncle Scrooge! Go get him!"_ the kids shouted in unison.

Scrooge took a deep breath, then turned to Della and nodded in confirmation: "Go."

And the plane roared into action.

* * *

"This blows! We should be on the other side with them," Dewey waved a fist at the portal high above the sky. Snow flurries occasionally got through and melted instantaneously under the summer sun.

"Hey, do you think our other selves are anything like us? Are they our opposites? Is their Launchpad a genius?" Webby questioned with growing enthusiasm.

"Nah, they're probably all evil and have goatees like that one _Space Ducks_ movie," Louie shrugged. "And Uncle Scrooge is like, Emperor of the Universe or something."

Huey balked, "That's not at all how this works!" 

"How do you know? We have nothing to go on except Penny's word. The evil Penny, mind you," Louie shot back.

"I want to see what the alternate dimension is like! It's like, my dream!" Dewey whined. 

"Since when?"

"Since four days ago!"

"Niños, be quiet. We're getting a message," Officer Cabrera shushed them as Manny and Beakley turned up the volume on the communications device connecting them to the Sunchaser.

 _"--have two of your people held prisoner, and it seems that you have one of mine--"_ General Lunaris' voice broke out over the radio and everyone stopped.

"Ugh, that guy's the worst," Louie said.

"Shush!"

Uncle Scrooge's voice spoke up, _"You won't get your Moonlander back until we have those two safely on my plane!"_

 _"Keep the General,"_ Lunaris said, _"I'm simply thrilled at the prospect of breaking Scrooge McDuck all over again--"_

Officer Cabrera muttered something that sounded none too friendly in Spanish, "If he lays a hand on my son I will personally-" she stopped when Beakley laid a hand on the other woman's shoulder and shook her head. 

"They're going to be just fine. Let them handle it."

 _"-Just go for it!"_ Penny shouted.

 _"Absolutely not. We can't leave the portal unprotected!"_ Scrooge was insistent and Launchpad grabbed the speaker. 

"Don't worry, Mr. McDee, we're prepared to keep intruders out!" 

"Yeah, Uncle Scrooge! Go get him!" the kids cheered. 

Beakley turned around and signaled to the army of Moonlanders waiting at the end of the bridge and a swarm of hovercrafts surrounded the portal, ready for battle. 

Dewey grinned, "Try and make your way through the portal now, suckas!"

* * *

Fenton waited for the Sunchaser to show up with growing anxiety, but couldn't see anything through the thick veil of white. 

"'Hook, line, and sinker', as you Earthers say," General Lunaris spoke. "Your Scrooge was as easy to manipulate as the fool from this earth. The Planet Moon will have conquered two of your earths before your planet conquered its own oceans."

Fenton decided it wasn't the best time to bring up the fact that they had already held off the moon invaders once.

"Just you wait, they-" Fenton's voice died as soon as he started to speak. A small hovercraft came hurtling toward them, and at the helm was General Penumbra and a restrained Scrooge McDuck.

She pulled up along the roof and saluted, "General."

Lunaris grinned, "See? I didn't have to worry about you at all Penumbra. What, Scrooge? Did you simply hand yourself over in exchange for these nobodies?" Lunaris gestured to his prisoners. 

"Let them go," Scrooge demanded, stepping out of the craft toward Lunaris, "And you can have me."

"I don't see anything for you to bargain with here, McDuck," Lunaris gripped Fenton by the head and the intern bit back a yelp, "I'm holding all the cards." With that, he shoved Fenton off the roof and the intern let out a scream of terror.

_I have no Gizmo-suit! I'm going to die!_

He landed with a thud as the Sunchaser flew past and he rolled into the open door straight into Donald Duck. 

"Blathering Blatherskite!" he exclaimed, patting his body to make sure he was in one piece. "You people are insane!" Donald shoved him off with an irritated rasp.

"You're welcome!" Della gave him a thumbs up and shot the Sunchaser straight up into the sky.

* * *

Scrooge grinned in satisfaction at the priceless look on Lunaris' face as the Sunchaser rose above them, Fenton and the others waving from the window. 

Lunaris shoved Gyro aside and aimed his blaster at Scrooge, "What are you playing at?"

"It's not him you should be worried about, General," Penumbra spoke up from behind Lunaris who turned on his heel only to face the front end of a blaster, "Drop your weapon."

"But- you-" Lunaris flipped around again to see Penumbra's counterpart untying Scrooge. "There are two of you? And you are both betraying me? Which one of you is my General?" he snapped.

"I am," the one holding the weapon spoke, "And I wouldn't consider it a betrayal." She held up the lost time dial. "It's more like putting right what we did wrong."

She looked up at Lunaris with a scowl, "I'm going to fix this and make sure nothing happens to Della this time. They gave me another chance, and I'm going to take it!"

Scrooge smiled, "Atta girl."

The wind picked up and the five on the roof grabbed at the spires to keep from being blown away. 

"Go! I will take him and call off my people!" the counterpart Penumbra ordered and Scrooge gestured for his Penumbra to get in the hovercraft. 

"Take those two down safely and get those Moonlander invaders called off!" he instructed, "I'll get Gyro!" 

Scrooge used his cane to haul himself past the broken spire, "Gyro! Lad, where are you?" he called into the howling wind. "Gyro?"

He looked down and saw a form huddled around a spire jutting out from the bottom corner of the roof, "Gyro!" He linked the cane to the spire above him and lowered himself toward the scientist. 

The lad was conscious and was hugging the spire tightly, trembling in the storm. 

"Gyro, grab my hand!" he yelled over the wind, "I'll pull you to safety! Don't worry, the Sunchaser is here!"

Gyro opened one of his eyes to look at Scrooge and shook his head slightly, "No."

"What do ya mean 'no'?" Scrooge demanded, "This isn't the time to succumb to a fear of heights, Gyro! Let go of the spire and grab my hand!" he waved his arm emphatically. The older man swallowed a cry of frustration as the fear-stricken scientist buried his head into his arms instead, ignoring Scrooge's outstretched hand.

"Do you know how much time and effort we've put into searching for you? The Sunchaser and everyone is waiting for us so don't go and ruin it all now! Grab my hand you blasted--" he cut off when Gyro reacted as if he'd been physically slapped.

Scrooge took in the sight of the lanky inventor who clung to the spire for dear life. His side was badly burned and his clothes were torn, his glasses cracked. He was scared, frozen, and injured, and Scrooge had been berating him. The lad probably couldn't even move. 

"I-I'm sorry, Gyro, that was uncalled for," he pulled back and examined their situation. _Alright, new plan._ He took a deep breath and dropped down, swinging from a ledge below the spire that Gyro was attached to.

"Alright, Gyro, I'm right below you now and I need you to let go so I can catch you," Scrooge urged him.

Gyro looked panicked, "I can't-"

"You don't have to do anything! Just let go and trust me," Scrooge pleaded. "I promise I won't drop you! I would never drop you!"

The scientist seemed conflicted as he weighed his options.

"Any time now, Gyro," Scrooge urged as the Sunchaser made another round and came toward them. 

"Now! Let go, now!"

Gyro did as he was told and fell into Scrooge's outstretched arm. The older man swung them around and dove onto the wing of the plane where Fenton and Donald were waiting for them. The four tumbled into the open door and Scrooge ordered, "Make for the portal, Della! Let's go!"

"Aye-aye!"

"Where's Penumbra?" Scrooge got to his feet and adjusted his coat.

"She's following in a ship. The Moonlanders have called off their attack," Fenton explained.

"Mom, you're clear for reentry!" Huey's voice came over the comm system. 

"Everyone buckle down," Della ordered as the plane rose upward. 

Scrooge helped a half-conscious Gyro into a seat and strapped the scientist down, "Almost home, lad." He patted the other's hand in assurance and strapped himself down next to him. 

The plane tore through the portal in one piece and Scrooge waved at his family and the small army of Moonlanders down below, cheering them on. 

"Home sweet home."

* * *

**Two Days Later:**

With the Gizmo-suit damaged and Gyro out of commission, Fenton had nothing to do but go back to the lab and work on some of his own personal experiments. Not that he minded having some time to himself after a hectic and stressful week in the lab. M'ma had insisted he stay home and rest as well, but he was fine. Tired, yes, but fine. 

He was walking down an almost-empty sidewalk when someone called out to him:

"Hey, Gizmo- I mean, Fenton!" Launchpad McQuack waved from a half-block away. He and two of the children, Webby and Dewey, ran up to the intern with hands full of overflowing shopping bags.

"Ah, good morning," he greeted them, "What are you up to this early?"

"We're going to be your personal party planners!" Webby announced.

"My what now?"

Launchpad explained, "Well, y'know since Gyro is back and stuck at home we thought we'd take the time to set up a welcome home party in the lab." He seemed pretty proud of himself.

"The _Dew_ -master is the party master," Dewey winked. 

A party in the lab? What a tremendously bad idea.

"Oh, that's very, er, kind of you guys, but-" Fenton scratched his head, "-The lab is for science. I'm not sure Dr. Gearloose would take very kindly to a party in his workspace. Besides, it'll probably be a couple of weeks before he gets back to work... maybe you should figure out a different plan for now?" he suggested kindly.

"But look at all these balloons we got," Webby gestured to the shopping bags.

"Those are _all_ balloons?"

"They have letters on them so we can spell out fun stuff, and some of them even glow in the dark and have confetti inside!" Webby was beside herself and Dewey smirked.

"She really wanted those balloons."

"They glow in the dark! How can you not want the balloons?" she got on her knees and begged Fenton, "Pleeease let us come with you?" 

"Why don't you set it up at your house instead?" Fenton tried to dissuade her.

"That's a no go. All parties have been banned in the mansion," Dewey said.

 _That's reassuring._ Fenton sighed, "Fine, you can set up balloons. No party, no cake, and no music. _Just_ balloons."

"Yes!"

They made their way to the lab and Fenton was shocked to find the lights were already on.

"Manny?" Fenton called out.

He went up the steps and balked when he saw Dr. Gearloose rummaging through a desk drawer, muttering to himself, pieces of the Time Tub scattered across the desk. 

"Dr. Gearloose! What are you doing here?" 

Gyro turned to him with a small frown, "I work here."

"But- but you're supposed to be at home resting!" Fenton objected.

"I am perfectly fine," Gyro snapped, "I had an entire 24 hours of sleep." Lil' Bulb shook its head behind Gyro's back and Fenton had to agree with the little guy. Dr. Gearloose looked tired, his arm in a sling and his posture stiff like he was in pain. And Fenton had to assume that he was, considering the nasty burn across the side of his abdomen and the countless bruises and fractures his body had suffered against the other version of Fenton.

Fenton knew that it was illogical to feel guilty, but he did. He understood and had come to terms with the fact that his other self was completely different from him, but the idea of his face attacking people rather than helping them was... painful.

"Gyro, you're back! Has it already been two weeks?" Launchpad flung his arms out and went in for a hug, inciting a fearful shriek from Gyro, and was immediately tackled by Webby and Dewey.

"No hugs, Launchpad!" Webby ordered. "You'll break him even more!"

"Actually, I think you should let him so that it'll keep Gyro in the hospital where he _belongs_ ," Dewey glared at Dr. Gearloose, whose face immediately twisted in irritation. Fenton stepped back awkwardly.

"Excuse me, what are you even doing in my lab? This is not a place for children!"

"I'm not a child," Launchpad pointed out.

"Oh, you definitely are."

"Oo-kay," Fenton intervened, pushing the kids and Launchpad toward the stairs, "They were just leaving, weren't you guys?" he nodded to the door. 

Webby got on Launchpad's shoulders and looked down on Fenton, her voice dead serious, "Fine. But balloon time isn't over, you understand, Crackshell-Cabrera?" 

And they were gone.

Fenton rubbed his hands nervously, "That was my fault, I'm sorry. I didn't expect you to be back so soon and-" he eyed the desk and gawked, "-Are you working on the Time Tub again?" 

Gyro stiffened, "No, I was studying Lil' Bulb here and his reaction to the Time Tub," he rolled his eyes, "He was carrying around some excess chronon energy and I wanted to make sure it was gone for good. Oh, and the Gizmoduck suit is fixed," he gestured to a box in the corner. 

"When did you have time to fix the suit?" Fenton gasped, digging through the box. 

"Last night. It took like an hour," Gyro turned his attention back to Lil' Bulb. "I even made a few modifications to make the flight systems safer and the armor more impervious to damage, like when a _spire_ falls on you for instance."

"Dr. Gearloose, not that I'm not grateful-"

"Then show your gratitude by shutting up and going away."

 _Back to the norm, I see._ Fenton groaned internally and did as he was told, but he couldn't help but worry, so he made a call before he got back to work.

Forty minutes later, Scrooge McDuck showed up at the lab and Fenton silently prayed that Dr. Gearloose wouldn't strangle him for it.

* * *

"Gyro..." Scrooge warned as he climbed towards the scientist's work area. He hadn't been too pleased (but not at all surprised) to receive a phone call from Gizmoduck telling him that his top scientist was back in the lab despite his very specific instructions to stay home.

Gyro looked down and glared at the intern accusingly, who was pretending to ignore him.

"Aye, lad. You cannae be mad at Fenton. He's only looking out for you," Scrooge poked the scientist in the leg with his cane.

Gyro didn't say anything.

"Didn't I tell you to go home and rest for a week or two?" Scrooge asked.

"And _I_ said that it wasn't necessary and it's not," Gyro retorted. "I don't want to rest. I want to get back to work and finish my projects."

"Lad, this is not the time for you to be messing with this stuff," Scrooge poked at a disassembled time dial with a frown.

"Why?" Gyro raised his voice and slammed his fist on the desk, making Scrooge jump, "You don't trust me with it? You think I'll screw up the time stream and get us all enslaved by Moonlanders?" his voice cracked, "Or-or I'll destroy half the city with one of my evil robots? Is that it?"

"Who told you that?" Scrooge was indignant.

"You- _he_ did! They all did!" Gyro turned away from him, "I thought I could make a difference! Create something... amazing," he quieted, "but everything I create goes... wrong. Turns evil. Every. Single. _Time_."

Gyro had been more affected by his dimensional trip than Scrooge had thought. "Gyro, sit down. You look like you're going to keel over," he pulled up a chair and forced the scientist to sit.

"Lad, you've worked for me for years now. Over a decade, in fact, and I have seen you come up with some of the most brilliant things. Like..." he thought for a moment, "Like your time machine! I mean, you cannae deny how incredible of an invention that is--"

"--And it's almost destroyed time and space, got me stuck in the past, and ah, yes, got our earth nearly invaded by Moonlanders from another dimension," Gyro replied bitterly.

"Okay, well what about the Spear of Selene? That ship--"

"--Got Della lost in space for ten years and got us invaded by the Moonlanders."

"The Oxy-chew!" Scrooge tried.

"I got a punch in the face for that one."

Scrooge groaned, "What about Lil' bulb here?" Lil' Bulb bowed under the recognition.

Gyro eyed the little robot warily, "He has his... moments."

Scrooge rubbed his eyes and looked down at Fenton, "Y'know, your fancy robot suit turned that lad there into one of Duckberg's greatest heroes. He traversed timelines to rescue you and even fought an evil version of himself in order to do so. But... he understands that he's not going to turn evil just because his doppelganger was. So why do you?"

The scientist's eyes watered unexpectedly and Scrooge knew he had hit the nail on the head. "They said I was the same as him; that I was not to be trusted. What makes you think that they're wrong?" Gyro looked down at his hand bleakly.

"And what makes you say they're right? Gyro-" Scrooge laid a hand on the lad's shoulder, "Those were not good people. You never even had the chance to meet your counterpart. And to me it sounds like... maybe their Gyro Gearloose didn't have such a nice life if his friends never had any faith in him. Maybe he was just... wildly misunderstood."

Gyro looked up at him in surprise.

Scrooge sighed, "And I'm sorry if we-" he corrected himself, "If _I've_ made you feel that way. I trust you implicitly, Gyro. You're part of my family too, and my family doesn't have to prove anything to me."

The scientist buried his head into his good hand in a desperate bid to hide his tears and it broke Scrooge's heart. He had only ever seen the lad cry once, and that had been many years ago. 

He pulled Gyro into a gentle hug and the scientist shook with quiet sobs, Lil' Bulb wrapping itself around his creator's neck in what seemed to be a comforting manner. Scrooge stayed silent and let the lad cry for as long as he needed.

* * *

Fenton was both relieved and worried when Gyro passed his desk on his way out of the lab, "I'll see you in a week, intern. Just... don't blow up my lab while I'm gone, or-" his voice deepened to a threat, "Let anyone in here to throw a party or you're fired."

"I would never," Fenton laughed it off and watched as the scientist left.

"How did you get him to leave?" he asked Scrooge as the older man descended the stairs. 

"I am his boss," Scrooge stretched his arms, "Besides, he's a smart lad. I just had to make him see reason is all." He took in Fenton's concerned face, "Y'know, I know that Dr. Gearloose isn't always that easy to work with, but..." he smiled reassuringly at the intern, "Be patient with him because he does care. Life has just made him a bit bitter."

Fenton nodded, "I know, but, I wish I could help."

"Laddie," Scrooge chuckled, "You're a superhero for Duckburg and one of the most cheerful people I know. Trust me, you've helped Gyro more than either of you has realized. Just keep being you and I promise that everything will turn out alright. Now-" he looked around the lab, "-Do as Gyro says and keep this place shipshape while he's gone. And please, for the love of _everything_ , do not touch that time machine." 

Fenton saluted with a grin, "Yes, sir!"

"Atta boy."

* * *

**A few days later:**

Gyro Gearloose sat on his couch with his laptop and cursed the terrible wi-fi connection. Oh, how he longed to be back in the lab, but he had promised Mr. McDuck that he would stay put at home for at least a week. 

Lil' Bulb climbed up onto his lap and Gyro narrowed his eyes, "And what have you been up to?"

The invention reached over and plugged in a USB cable that he had attached to himself. Gyro balked, "And when did you get a USB connection? What did I tell you about making self-modifications?" The invention simply shrugged in response.

"Fine, whatever. What is it you're trying to do?" he squinted at the screen as a data file popped up. "What is this?"

A video feed immediately started to play, _"--sit still so I can record this properly. Um, hello. This is Dr. Gyro Gearloose-"_ An image of a slightly different version of Gyro came into view and Gyro flung the laptop away from him with a strangled cry. 

"No! No! Where did you get that? I don't want to see any of it!" he shouted, his voice tinged with fear. 

Lil' Bulb was having none of it though, and lifted the laptop, placing it firmly back in Gyro's lap. He pointed at the screen emphatically and his message was clear: _Watch it_.

Gyro reluctantly examined the frozen image of his counterpart. He was very similar to him, the only physical difference being his shirt was a pale pink rather than green. And his eyes were... sad. 

"Where did you get this?" he whispered to his invention. While in the other timeline Gyro had done his best to avoid anything related to the other Gyro. Lil' Bulb pulled up an image of himself with a tag that said "Little Helper". 

"You found your other self and took its data processor?" Gyro frowned at the bot. 

Another image showed up with the two bots together, Lil' Bulb posing with the other bot who was definitely inactive.

"I'll take a look at your morality circuits again later," Gyro groaned. "Fine, play the video."

The video started back up with the other Gyro speaking, _"--I have made a terrible mistake. I mean, not that I haven't already made hundreds of thousands of horrible mistakes, but, er, that's not the point here."_ He laughed bitterly. _"I know Mr. McDuck will find a way to defeat the Moonlanders because he always finds a way. So if you're taking the time to watch this, I just wanted to let you know that I am... sorry. Things got out of hand."_

The Gyro on the screen stopped and took a deep breath, steeling himself, _"I thought I could prove myself and defeat the Moonlanders by utilizing my cloning machine on my defense bots. That, um, obviously wasn't my greatest idea. Della and Donald tried to stop them but... you know what happened. No need to rehash the past, but I just wanted to say that it wasn't intentional. I know everyone thought I had turned on earth when it happened, but I swear-"_ he looked desperate, _"-It was an accident. So then I thought, 'Well, since they already think I'm on the Moonlanders side, why not pretend to join them?' Genius, right? I could tear them apart from the inside and retake the earth. I could be a hero... I even destroyed my time machine so that Lunaris couldn't use it to change earth's history. I had to make up a lie about it and I believe it worked-"_

Gyro's gut twisted.

 _"-But the longer this invasion goes on, the more I've been starting to believe that maybe... it's better this way. Lunaris actually appreciates the work I do for him. All the Moonlanders do,"_ He shrugged. _"And my intern has made things more complicated as well. I can't tell which side he's on anymore and he's becoming more... violent. I'm starting to think that this is all going to end very badly for me, so-"_ he looked up at the screen, his eyes pleading.

 _"I'm sorry I messed everything up and I know you won't believe me... but I do hope earth makes a comeback. And I hope you can accept my apologies."_ Someone shouted in the background and the Gyro looked up in fear, _"I've got to go."_

And the video cut off.

Gyro drew into himself and trembled slightly.

_"Maybe their Gyro Gearloose didn't have such a nice life if his friends never had any faith in him. Maybe he was just... wildly misunderstood."_

Lil' Bulb wrapped itself around Gyro's arm and snuggled against him. _See? Not such a bad guy._

His doorbell rang unexpectedly, "Dr. Gearloose? M'ma and I brought over some dinner!" his intern called out through the door. 

"You'd better get that before the security system goes off," Gyro nodded at the door and Lil' Bulb jumped up to get it. 

He was surprised to feel a warm, calm feeling of gratitude in his chest. It wasn't often he felt that way, but... he looked at the screen, the image of the other Gyro's fearful face forever imprinted on his mind. 

His life really wasn't so bad here.

He leaned over and deleted the video file permanently. 

_Let's keep moving forward, shall we?_

* * *

_Author's Note: Ohmygosh, it's done! I am so terribly sorry that it was so short. It was originally supposed to be a quick, short story for me to write while on break and I had no idea that so many people would be interested in it (otherwise I woulda delved deeper into the story elements and the other dimension's lore and whatnot). So, Ima just leave all that up to your personal interpretation. :) In my mind it all ended well in the other dimension, but I guess that's up to you. ^-^_

_I really hope you enjoyed the story! Please feel free to leave feedback. I had a ton of fun writing it and maybe when I get the chance I'll write some more Ducktales stuff (I love all the characters to death and would enjoy incorporating more). We shall see. Anyhoo, have a lovely day y'all :D_


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